Israeli Paraglides Into Syria in Apparent Attempt to Join Civil War
Israeli defense forces scrambled fighter jets to respond to the incident.
— -- The Israeli military announced Sunday morning that a 23-year-old Arab Israeli paraglided over the border into Syria Saturday night in an apparent bid to join the civil war. Initially it was thought a paraglider had accidentally been carried over the border by the wind.
Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency, and the Israeli military are currently investigating.
Israeli military lookouts identified a glider crossing the border into Syrian territory around 5 p.m. on Saturday. Overnight, Israel scrambled fighter jets to the border and military forces were rushed to the scene.
"Yesterday: IDF surveillance post identified paraglider entering Syria. Initial investigation suggests Israeli-Arab crossed intentionally," read The Israeli Defense Force spokesperson Twitter account.
"We don't know all the details, but apparently it was a 23-year-old Arab Israeli from Jaljulia, which did what he did intentionally and was picked up there," IDF spokesman Brigadier Gen. Moti Almoz told military reporters, according to Haaretz, which also said the IDF banned reporting on the incident until Sunday morning.
"We don't know if people were waiting for him there, but we estimate that whoever did this kind of thing -– against the direction of gliding – did so on purpose," Almoz said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet Sunday that he would revoke the man's citizenship.
